I've always said it was the latter with Federer. It just shows how ridiculously tough he is to beat, and that was never more evident than tonight. Contrast that with Connors or Nadal for example who are renowned for their fighting spirit (and no doubt they were/are great fighters), and it's different. They were tough to beat in 5, but they didn't have enough to get it to that point in most of their losses.

The idea that he is weak mentally is ridiculous. It is true that he plays better when he leads, but he is as great a competitor as anyone, including Connors or Nadal (in fact he is a greater competitor than Nadal). Wmbledon 2008, AO 2013 are examples of how he fighted in match were he was the inferior player.